Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125684
,. By Maureen Lee Hope you've been reading your local papers lately, in the last two weeks alone two more cities have come up with forbidding the riding of blkes on private property without written permission of the owner and the penalties for being caught doing this are stlU indeed. VictorvUle is the latest on the list. Then there was an article in a recent Independent-Press Telegram Sunday section about the damage being done to the desert that was poorly researchlid but although we know the facts" such as we don't have dally racing out there, the average Joe citizen only believes what he reads so by now there are literally hundreds of people who believe the motorcyclist is destroying the land. In the scramble to do something about the desert'everyone 15 now starting'to run around in dlfferent directions and getting nothing done. The offthe-road people aren't, anyway, but the "big boys" are stl.llin there swinging. s , It makes me mad to be told that Pm damaging land because r ride a blke on It and my wheels contribute to literally threatening the existence of certa1n desert Plants, so as Pm a barbarian motorcyclist they are going to do their damndest to keep me off the land because "conserntiontsm" and "ecology" are the two "in" words now. If you don't use them at least every other sentence you're "out". And r get even madder realizing that all we can do is cbarge Windmills. The "big boys" can get away with it every time and we can't. There's obViously not enough money in the use of our land by us but to get oil out of the sea they'll cheerfully kill oft all the pelicans and fish (who needs them anyway?) AND ,hand over the desert to mining interests who come right out and say that when their mines are depleted, the desert will not be fit for anything living. Nothing will grow or be able to live there, It will be barren. Eeeuckl So before r ,have a coronary I'd better go and have a cup of tea and simmer down a bit. r think by now most of us realize what a serious situation we're in for and you can't say you didn't know It was going on. It's been going on slowly for a heck of a long time now but the trouble is no one listened to the watch dogs howling, they went cheerfully on expecting someone else to do the work in keeping land open for us. A few did and are st1ll fIghting and city hall can be fought and conquered but It takes effort. So for pete's sake, don't dUly-dally around any longer about shooting off even a postcard to a representative and tell him what you think about what is going on. You put him in offlce, he either does what the majority wants or put him out, whether it's on a city, county, state or national level. A little whIle ago r was privileged to attend three meetings to help open tracks in Dtstr1ct 37. Our side was pitifully small while the indignant citizens were out in full force and the councilman had just about made up their minds before the hearings. Well, out of those three hearings two tracks were opened up and are st1ll running, even after being voted down once. So you can fight and get something done but the key word is fIght. To give scrambles a little shot in the arm, one of our fellow journalists came up with a goody the other day. There is a new little bike here now called a mini-enduro, Yamaha has one that w1l1 make every youngsters heart jump and pound. It's just a baby scaled-down motorcycle, not a mint-bike. As you all well know, just because you have a little kid who can ride hell out of a mint-bike, when he's big enough for a proper cycle you're going to have to teach him allover again. Minis and blkes are different breeds of, cat but the enduro isn't. It's actually a little bike, with a top speed of around 37 mlles an hour. Now in England they have "school boys scrambles" where the youngsters take to the circuits at a certain age, all on 50'S which must remain stock and gaining in age and experience they progress to Bantams which may be modified. From then as adults they can start competing in the club events but by that time they have ea,rned much" experience and SkUl on the way UP. ' My friend's idea' and r must say it sounds like a good one that maybe we would start a program llke that. A separate class for mini-enduros for boys under a certain age complete with proper rules and point system. Maybe a good one would be an BALDWIN PARK, CALIF. - A miniaturized hydraulic ClutCh, pictured above, has been introqJ,Jced by Tablock, Industries of this city. The prototype has been installed on this 6500c Triumph, logging a total of 20,000 miles. Last week, Cycle News staffers had a chance to try the new device and were highly impressed with the ease of clutch engagement. Hydraulics expert, Keith Mi lIer, designed the system, using techniques practiced in the Aero-Space industry. Installed on a 750cc Honda, the new device will retail for $98. All Tri umphs, the Kawasaki H-1 and the Norton Commando are $10 extra. The hydraul ic is carried through Teflon I ines, and requires refi II i ng every 10,000 miles. The conversion kit will be available this month at the company, 15004 E. Arrow, Baldwin Park. Qra~.'t PROFESSIONAL SAFETY- HELMETS, MADE IN CAUfORNIA .,;;~~~c~~u~~~:;f::~ef:::~~~ w~e~~~o~er~r:ea~:~s ~:e~~~:e~::~~~ bikel It would really get the up-and-comers started off safely in the right direction. Think about It a bit. Th. First -American Full Cover H.I.,..., ne House of MAICO SALES - PARTS - SERVICE THE MOST COMPLETE LINE OF THERMOPLASTIC HELMETS Mall order prac:essed same day received I.D. 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